


date night

by french_fries



Series: Sordia Soulmate AU [2]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Brother-Sister Relationships, F/M, Family Issues, Fortune Telling, Soulmate AU, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:14:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22632496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/french_fries/pseuds/french_fries
Summary: Growing up, due to their unusual closeness and physical dissimilarity, Soren and Claudia have been mistaken as good friends or a couple one too many times. At one point, they have grown beyond fed up with correcting every single person.On a wrecked Valentine's Day revolving around their little complicated family, however, they decided turn the table and make use of it.
Relationships: Claudia & Soren & Viren (The Dragon Prince), Claudia/Soren (The Dragon Prince)
Series: Sordia Soulmate AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1603801
Comments: 20
Kudos: 30





	date night

**Author's Note:**

> Second installment of my Soulmate AU. Date night is a thing in this AU that's going to be continuously important in the actual story later and this oneshot is meant to tell its origin because I don't believe I'd ever have the right timing to tell it in details in the actual story.
> 
> Soren is 17 and Claudia is 15 here.

Soren stopped to look back when Claudia slowed her pace. He followed her gaze and noticed that she was looking at a tent that looked like it only belonged to the wicca collection page Claudia made him look at last week, and not in a mall. He didn't know how he'd missed that while walking by.

Claudia looked deeply fascinated. She had always been into witchcraft, after all. She had crystals, a broom, and all that jazz in her room that she had started collecting a few years ago. She had even lined a bunch of creepy candles along the rim of their shared bathtub. Soren tried taking them down one day only to have them put up again the next day. It was something they'd occasionally argue about to this day.

It seemed like the tent was quite new in town and was not as promoted, as there weren't as many people lining to get the service as the other shops on Valentine's night even though it very much had everything to do with the occasion. It was dinner time so most people were probably busy with that. Damn, it made Soren hungry to think about food. He should have eaten more before coming here.

Soren was about to tell Claudia that the fortune-telling parlor would just accept clients with Soulmarks anyway, like most of the relationship-focused business in this town. But he immediately realized that Claudia was drawn to it exactly because the sign said that it accepted non-bearer clients as well.

Sighing, Soren offered, "You wanna try going in there?" 

Claudia whipped around and looked at him with wide enthusiastic eyes, then nodded vigorously. Though she was quickly having second thoughts, "Ah, but you don't like these stuff, right?" 

"That's fine," he reassured. "Let's go."

Claudia was buzzing and already was pulling him towards the tent as soon as he said it.

Well, the sheer bizarrity might be exactly what he needed to take his mind off things.

* * *

He was wrong.

Regret came creeping in as soon as he stepped into the dark tent. All of this just reeked pretentiousness. From the rows of _magical_ objects and crystals to the strong smell of incense. From the purposefully dark drapes to the foreign writings on many surfaces. They didn't look that different than the fake ones Claudia got from Amazon and decorated her own room with.

Still, his sister managed to look like it was her first time basking in such divine magnificence when it basically was just her room but much, much smaller.

Soren couldn't understand the appeal. But he decided to be a good brother and accept that this was what his sister was into. And it's not like she was hurting anybody with it.

Besides, she had always been supportive of his hobbies and passion despite sometimes not understanding them well. And when she didn't, she made effort to understand. A few months ago, Soren managed to talk Claudia into watching the Knicks game with him, claiming he would educate her about the world of sports since she’d always expressed interest in trying to understand boys. In the face of all that excitement, it had gone past Soren’s head that kiss cam was a thing and it was one of the most publicly humiliating and awkward experience when they were caught in it and the whole stadium was cheering for them to kiss. Followed by that uncomfortable crescendo of the crowd dying down when they managed to explain that they were siblings.

It was far from the first time they'd been mistaken as a couple, but it was by far the most mortifying, for sure. Claudia hated sports and him for a while after that. And so did Viren when he found out. Soren only had himself to blame for not being prepared. Claudia was willing to go with him again a few weeks ago but after he bought them a couple of sibling matching shirts to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings. 

If she was willing to forgive him for that, he should be willing to do this with her without complaints.

Soren observed how, at the center of the moderate-sized tent was a table covered by the same shade of dark cloth as the entire tent. On it was your stereotypical crystal ball and a deck of tarot card next to it. Soren was trying so hard not to make any cynical remarks on how this was all a scam and they shouldn't waste twenty bucks on this crap but Claudia was already making happy noises and he hated raining on her parade.

"Hello there," said the figure in dark cloak, sitting behind the table. She was speaking in a familiar but foreign accent. Half of her face was obscured by her hood but she was obviously the fortune-teller. "I am Lujanne, the Moon Oracle."

Claudia grabbed his arm and shook it so hard he thought it was going to fall off. "It's a real fortune-teller, Soren!" she squealed.

Soren didn't know about "real", though. 

Instead of taking a seat like Claudia did, Soren opted to standing behind her with his arms crossed and putting on his skeptical face just to let the oracle or whatever know he's not dumb enough to just believe everything and she'd better not play games with his sister. If it was a scam, he was ready to punch someone.

Or not. Because that would mean the authority would be alerting Viren and that's the last thing he needed tonight.

He'd just let Claudia have it her way and diss the whole idea after they're finished, as usual.

By the time Soren's mind returned, the lady was already chanting something she probably robotically repeated to every non-bearer client who walked in, "Links exist in everyone. Some are just born luckier than most to have theirs imprinted on their body. Do not worry, I will help you find yours."

Soren tried not to roll his eyes but Claudia looked electrified.

"Really?" she chirped. "I've always wanted a Soulmate!"

"I can see that, young lass." The lady chuckled at her innocent honesty. "Now, pull out three cards and I will give you a reading."

"Okay!" Claudia did exactly as told, only briefly thinking over which card to pull out.

Soren didn't see the cards she pulled or understand what Lujanne meant when she explained what each card would represent. Honestly, he never understood a single thing despite the many instances Claudia had sat him down to watch videos with her or told him about what each of the crystals in her room could do. He's happy she had a passion besides studying, but he wished it was something easier to comprehend. Like sewing or flower-arranging. 

Lady Lujanne had finished explaining when Soren's attention returned to her.

"Hm. It says here that you have met your Soulmate." Soren didn't miss the way the lady's eyes briefly landed on him but decided to rule it out as coincidence. What was he expecting it to mean anyway?

"No way!" Claudia gasped.

"Yes.” She smiled kindly. “And they are very near. Very likely in the same town."

"Oh my God.” Claudia was breathing heavily, unable to contain her overflowing excitement. She turned in her chair and squealed, “Are you hearing this, Soren?!"

"I don't know, Clauds.” Soren frowned, unconvinced. “Sounds kinda random."

Claudia already wasn't listening. 

"Is it possible to know, like, their physical appearance?" she asked, getting more worked up by the second. Soren was glad he was here or she’d probably let anyone scam her entire fortune with how gullible she could be.

"To an extent, yes.” Lady Lujanne agreed. “Age and gender would be the basic. I would have to charge more for that reading."

Claudia didn’t waste a second to ask, "How much?"

"Seriously, Clauds?" Soren blurted.

"Shut up, Soren,” Claudia retorted aggressively. “This is the closest I've ever gotten to a confirmation. If my Soulmate's out there, I need to make sure I find them." Then she hurriedly added, "Don't tell Dad, you know he hates these things."

When Claudia said "these things" she didn't mean Soulmate stuff. Quite the contrary, actually, because their Father technically mastered in the field. It was only that he mastered in the medical side of it instead of the spiritual. Which he'd always looked down on saying the people who supported it didn't truly understand that Soulmarks were a scientific phenomenon and could be perfectly explained. Instead of the mysterious, romanticized enigma that the spiritualists were painting it as. Soren, though, couldn't care for either and especially not interested in the endless, centuries-long debate. 

Still, it sometimes worried him how obsessed his sister could be with the entire idea of Soulmarks. For as long as he was aware, she had been dreaming of having one and it had been slowly consuming her life.

"Oh," the lady suddenly exclaimed after what Claudia said, puzzling both of them when she studied them back and forth. "The two of you are..."

"Siblings," both of them clarified in unison.

Soren and Claudia had been mistaken as a couple one too many times because of their physical dissimilarities so they should have expected this the moment they decided to request for a couple-oriented service but it was always awkward to clarify before the misunderstanding arose. Now that they realized, though, it made them look like Soren was a bitter boyfriend who disagreed with his girlfriend being so enthusiastic on finding her Soulmate that might not be him, and it made them feel a tad bit weird.

Lady Lujanne appeared mildly surprised, falling deep in thoughts before muttering, "I see. I apologize. I assumed..."

"Pft, don't be.” Claudia waved casually as to let her know it wasn’t a big deal. “We get that a lot. Sometimes we don't bother correcting every single one anymore."

"I would imagine so," Lujanne mused. "You don't exactly... resemble each other."

"Yeah. We each take from our individual parent a lot so we end up looking like the younger version of them instead of, you know, the meshed up version of them." Claudia explained nonchalantly. 

That made the lady laugh freely. Claudia laughed along, and that made Soren loosen up a bit. She was always so good at making people laugh, even those she just met.

"So I take it you both share the same set of parents?" Lujanne asked after they were done laughing.

"We do." Claudia nodded.

"Were they also Soulmates?"

"Yes! How did you know?"

"I can sense these things." Lujanne's lips formed a smirk. Then she proceeded to question, "Are you the younger of you two?"

"Yes, why?"

"And did you parents tell you that you weren't born with a mark?"

"Yes?"

Soren raised a brow when the lady shifted her attention to him next. It was beginning to make him feel uncomfortable how engrossed the lady was in their family affairs. 

"And you?" She referred to Soren. "Were you born with a mark?"

"Fake Mark," he corrected.

"It's a special case," Claudia explained when the lady appeared to be puzzled. "His mark disappeared when he was two."

"I see now. How about I give you a reading there, lad?"

Soren was quick to let a scoff slip before he could stop it. "And waste twenty precious bucks on something I don't give two shits about? No, thanks." He was already giving his all not to drag Claudia and himself out of there, really. The lady was asking too much from him.

"Soren, be nice!" Claudia hissed, then smiled nervously at the chuckling lady. "I'm sorry about him. He's a skeptic, you see."

"Oh, that's fiiine," Lujanne brushed off casually, then proceeded on a preach about how some things were better off left unseen. Claudia was listening intently and occasionally nodding.

Again, Soren no longer understood what they were talking about so he retreated back into his head again. Which was bad, because it made him want to look at his phone to see if Viren had called. Jumping back and forth between wanting to know if his Father cared enough to contact him to not wanting to hear from him yet. To end the torturous thoughts, Soren slipped a hand into his pocket to turn his phone off for the rest of the night. That way, he didn't need to confirm or deny anything.

"Sor-bear?" he heard Claudia call. When he looked back to her, she made a cute face and asked, "Come sit with me?" While patting the seat beside her as Lady Lujanne also wore a welcoming look on her kind face.

Soren had no idea how his sister could always tell when he's spiraling. And when she did, she always wanted to make sure he's not alone with his thoughts. 

"We're almost done," Claudia told him as soon as he sat down.

Soren lightly shook his head. "That's fine. Take your time."

"Aw, thanks, Sor-bear!" She lightly pinched his nose before returning her attention to Lujanne, who had started describing vaguely what kind of person Claudia's Soulmate was.

Male. Close to her age.

Soren pushed away the beginning of an ugly jealousy when his mind began picturing the lucky bastard would whisk his sister's affection away one day, and buried it deep in the corner. Halfway through, he wasn't listening again, but Claudia was holding his hand under the table, and his mind became less loud.

* * *

Once they were done with the fortune-telling, Claudia only looked satisfied and wouldn't stop grinning. She had thanked Lujanne and the two hugged as the latter wished her luck. She had even given Claudia a little discount, calling her gorgeous and special. Soren thought it was just a business trick, but Claudia was walking with springs in her steps from sheer joy.

But then, as if reminded of something, she turned to Soren, "So?"

"What?" he asked, confused.

"The complaints? Cynical remarks? A whole essay about why Soulmarks should be wiped off the face of Earth?" Claudia listed. "Come on, there must be a ton of things you wanna say after _that._ "

Soren only shrugged. "Eh, I think it's pretty cool."

Almost immediately, Claudia exploded into a roaring laughter that caused everyone within earshot to turn their heads at them. Soren walked faster as to not be associated with her, but she rushed to follow as soon as she was done. "You're not kidding," she declared in shock.

"Well, the moon lady's nice. And she gave you a discount."

"I know, right?" Claudia aggressively agreed. "She's so cool! She has this... this aura about her. Everything she said is so different than those in Dad's books, you know. It's just so," she curled her fingers, thinking of the right expression, "eye-opening!"

Soren made some noises to express his consensus when Claudia started enthusiastically yapping about how Viren's book debunked the authenticity of spiritual Soulmark-sensing. How he thought of those as bogus and how Claudia always wanted to explore more sides of the Soulmark but had to do so in secret as to appease Viren. Soren knew more than anyone how much Claudia hated disappointing or upsetting their Father because he was just the same. Except he somehow kept failing in his attempts, like earlier this evening.

"Do you think she miiiight be the real deal?" Claudia tried, after praising Lujanne some more. 

"Yeah, let's not go that far." Soren had to stop her right there. Letting her think he's a believer after one good visit was the last thing he'd want. She already couldn't stop yapping about it even knowing he hated the idea, so imagine if he were to agree.

"Worth a try." Claudia shrugged. "So, has Dad called us?"

Soren tried not to flinch before saying, "Dunno. Turned off my phone."

"Okay." As usual, Claudia was quick to understand.

They then discussed about what to do next and agreed on movies. But with it being Valentine's Day, all that's playing tonight was either sappy romantic movies or straight up porno. Claudia had leaned more to the former and Soren the latter, but both agreed it's not something to watch with your sibling. Not to mention the employer there already jumping the gun and offering them a couple package had only hardened their will not to go.

Suddenly, they're hyper-aware that it was Valentine's Day and despite not caring for it nor feeling like they were a part of the event as neither of them were in a relationship, the continuous misunderstandings were a relentless reminder. There was a hint of regret that they didn't wear those matching shirt out tonight; that would've been useful. But they wouldn't have the time for that anyway, with the way they came out of the house tonight.

"Wanna get some ice cream?" Claudia suggested instead, after they finished window-shopping at a chocolatier and fawning over the cuteness of what seemed like every piece.

Soren remembered his favorite shop that sold soufflé in this mall. "Eh, I feel like something more... solid."

"Soufflé, then."

"Cool."

It's almost like she could read his mind.

* * *

On the contrary to popular belief, Claudia was never a huge fan of sweets or desserts in general. She loved making pancakes and occasionally, peanut butter sandwiches, but even then she wouldn’t be so excessive on her sugar intake as she was quite watchful of her health. On that aspect, she was just like Viren.

Soren enjoyed sweets more than she did and it was fine because his metabolism had always been better than hers, but he’d always refuse to admit so. A lot of the times when they’d hang out at the mall, she’d take the initiative to invite him to grab some dessert because he’d be too prideful to, acting like she was the one craving for some sweet treats. 

In reality, though, Claudia would only grab a few spoonful and Soren would wolf down the rest. Sometimes she wondered if he realized.

Like right now, Claudia was done with her share and proceeded to take a sip of her black coffee. Then she pulled out her phone to check if Viren had contacted any of them. Soren took that as a sign to pull the plate closer to his side and inhaled more than half of the soufflé that remained like it was his first meal in a week.

There was a message from Viren asking, _[Where are you? Will you be home tonight?]_

Claudia discreetly snapped a picture of the soufflé Soren was eating, careful not to raise the phone too high else he'd know she was taking pictures. Only a bit of Soren's hand was in the frame.

Then she replied with, _[I'm not sure yet. If Soren's still angry, he's probably gonna stay the night at Uncle Harrow's again and if he does, I plan to stay with him. You know he gets cranky if I leave him when he's like this. Do you need anything, Dad?]_

_[No. I just want to make sure none of you are doing anything the police would like to give me a call for.]_

Claudia tried not to snort at that. She couldn't afford having Soren ask who she was texting because she hated lying when she didn't have to. As long as she didn't react too much, he wouldn't be interested in who she was texting.

 _[Come on, Dad, you know I'm a good girl 0:)]_ she replied.

 _[Of course you are. But you're also easily influenced by your brother.]_ Claudia scrunched her nose at that, peering at Soren who was picking up the plate to push all the cream into his mouth, and mentally denying that she was easily influenced by such doof when she clearly knew better. But before she could reply, another message came in, _[Just make sure you have him under control.]_

 _[Everything will be fine, Dad. You can count on me!]_ Claudia reassured. After all, it was her job to make sure everybody got along.

Claudia knew Soren’s sugar intake demand was equivalent to his stress level so at this point he might even order another one and she’d be lucky if he stopped at that. They’d be here for a while, it seemed.

She checked the time and realized it’s nearly 9pm. Almost three hours since Soren had stormed out of the house and she scrambled to follow, leaving Viren in the dining room, but not after giving him a look to ask for permission.

"Do not worry about me," her Father had said, proceeding on his dinner. "Look out for your brother. He can be impulsive."

It was another day of a little disagreement that escalated into a heated argument and Soren scramming out of frustration that he’d never win against their Father in a debate. Claudia had struggled to stay silent and not pick sides, forcing herself to stuff dinner down her throat even when it gradually tasted like nothing. She had spent so many hours preparing dinner, though. She wished it didn't have to go to waste, but she knew it couldn't be helped.

To be honest, Claudia was just happy to spend time with her family, but it seemed like there was always something in the way. Yet, she couldn't complain about something as small as wasted dinner when both her Dad and Soren were hurting. Even if said dinner took five hours to prepare. And during those five hours she'd been excited for their first family dinner in a while. 

Claudia watched as Soren leaned back into his chair after finishing his dessert, then waved his hand to call a waitress, as she had expected, to order more. When he did, she realized his hair was out of place, likely because he didn’t actually get ready before going out. Subconsciously, she reached to brush his hair one way to make it look more presentable, but it fell back in place soon after. She opted to just ruffle it and give him the bad boy look.

Soren just turned to face her so it’s easier for her to see his front profile. Then after Claudia’s nod of approval, he turned to look at the waitress that Claudia didn’t know was already standing by their table. She was smiling meaningfully at them and Claudia knew this was another person she would need to correct given the chance.

“I left my card at home,” Claudia realized as soon as Soren was done with his last soufflé and she pulled out her wallet to pay, only to remember how she used up her cash on fortune-telling just now. “Can you get this one, Sor?”

Soren swallowed the last of his dessert and then looked at her funny. “What? I thought you had it. I only have like, fifteen bucks on me.”

That wasn't nearly enough to pay for everything he had just inhaled. “Well, use your card!” Claudia distressedly suggested.

“Uh, Dad blocked it last week because of that impulsive Amazon haul, remember?”

Claudia felt a stroke coming. “Are you kidding me?” she groaned. "We can't call Dad to pay for us. What do we do?"

“We could call up someone to lend us some cash," Soren nonchalantly suggested. "We did that last time.”

“Uncle Harrow’s _not_ our walking ATM, Soren!” Claudia berated.

“Okay, stop being so hysterical, Clauds.” Soren rolled his eyes and blocked his ears, further triggering an already fuming Claudia. “If it helps, we wouldn’t be in this situation if you remember to bring your card.”

Claudia couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “ _Excuse me?_ ” She could see Soren shudder at her bone-chilling tone. That’s right, she was furious. “Are you saying this is _my_ fault?" she scoffed. "I’m sorry, was I the one who stormed out of the house because of a stupid argument with Dad?”

Immediately, Soren looked highly offended. “ _Stupid_ , Clauds?”

But Claudia wouldn't let the guilt stop her from speaking her mind this time. She'd had enough of being the only one who had to understand them all the time. “Yeah!" she fiercely agreed. "It was stupid. You two are such children, you know that? You are _so_ immature you expect a fifteen-year-old girl to somehow get it together for you both. Does any of you even _care_ what I feel? No!”

Soren was left stunned by her outburst. Then seconds later he became disturbingly aware of their surroundings. “Claudia, you’re being too loud.” Oh, she hated how he sounded just like their Father when he said that.

“I’m so _tired,_ Soren! Will you two just, for once, let us have a decent family dinner? It doesn’t even happen once a month. How is it so _hard_?”

Before she could explode some more, Soren held her arms to calm her down. “Okay, okay! It was my fault!" he admitted. "Geez, stop yelling. People are looking at us.”

Claudia wanted nothing but to say more to express her frustration but it only came out as incoherent wailing when she began sobbing. Claudia had her face in her palms so she wouldn’t have to deal with the judging stares. Likely out of embarrassment, Soren started running his hand up and down her back to calm her down. She could hear Soren turn down a couple of people’s offer to help, but there came one lady who was persistent enough.

“Oh, dearies, is everything alright? It’s the most unfortunate to be arguing on such a wonderful night.” She offered them her neatly-folded handkerchief.

“Yeah, she’s gonna be okay." Soren said, but accepted the handkerchief because he didn't have his own. "We don’t usually fight for long. Here, Clauds, use this.”

To reassure the lady, Claudia nodded, hiccuping and proceeding to blow into the hankie. “Th-thank you…”

“Don’t mention it, dear." The lady took a seat at their table, then held both their hands. Soren and Claudia were a little taken aback by the gesture but said nothing. She then proceeded to tell them in a soft voice, "Whatever it is you are going through, don’t let it soil the night. It is by working through these disagreements that couples grow stronger together.”

“Oh,” Soren realized, then chuckled awkwardly. “Actually, we’re not—”

He stopped when he felt Claudia gripping painfully onto his hand under the table. When Soren looked at her, she was pointing at a sign behind the smiling lady with her chin. It was a pamphlet of a couple special discount for Valentine’s Day and they would get half price for the exact kind of soufflé Soren had been ordering. God bless.

After Claudia was sure Soren understood her signals, she turned to the lady again and said, “Thank you, we’ll take your words to heart, kind ma’am.”

Following her, Soren added, “Yeah, totally. ‘Cause we’re dating—a, a couple. Yup.”

Gritting her teeth, Claudia glared at him as discreetly as possible to taunt him for his insufficient acting skills. Her brother had been with a number of girls before so it was beyond her why he was the one being so unbelievably awkward when it should be her.

"How sweet!" The lady clasped her hands. "Look, you are good again already."

"That's because we love each other. _O_ _bviously._ Like all couples do." It was far from the first time Soren slung his arm across Claudia's shoulders, but this time his body felt rigid and all sorts of weird. "Right, Clauds?" he silently begged for support.

Mentally slapping her forehead, Claudia put on the fakest of smiles on her face and half-seriously slapped Soren on the chest. "Oh, you!" she said in a sickeningly sweet voice before facing Soren to mouth a, _"Stop talking."_

Giggling, the lady got up from her seat, saying something about leaving them for their sweet time. They wasted no time to fly to the cashier. When they did, they didn't even need to say a thing and they were automatically charged half-price. The cashier smiled meaningfully at them, and they smiled back, hopefully not looking like they were constipated when they did.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Claudia nudged Soren's side and mumbled, “I’m sorry I said your argument with Dad was stupid. It wasn’t. I know it was hard for you, too.”

Soren looked surprised. Like he wanted to apologize first. “No, I’m… I’m sorry, too. We always take you for granted because you seem so strong and nonchalant all the time. I’m your big brother, I shouldn’t have made you feel that way.”

Touched by his words, Claudia sniffled to fight back the sobs that were forming and blinked rapidly, looking away. Soren was nice enough not to address her gesture and they walked some more before Claudia was sure she could sound normal again.

“You know, we should do this again sometime,” she suggested.

Somehow, that amused Soren. “Wow! You sound like every chick I went on a date with.”

Claudia scowled. “I’m serious! We barely see each other during the day every day because of club and at night you’re always busy with your phone or that stupid game.”

To be fair, they always had lunch together despite being made fun of by their friends for it. But Soren guessed that wasn't what Claudia was talking about or wanted. 

So he did what every older brother would. “Hey, you always have your nose buried in either your phone or your stupid books, too! Nerd!” Defend his honor and turn the blame around. Nice.

"Fine, we’re both at fault." Claudia quickly compromised, albeit looking a little irked by his childish response. "Doesn’t change the fact that I really enjoyed tonight and wanna do it again, though." Soren didn't know why it flustered him when she said that so straightforwardly. "Do you think we can maybe, set one night a week—or every two weeks—to hang out like this? No phone, no game, no books?"

“Well, if you say it like that… I mean, I had a blast tonight, too.” He really did. Soren honestly never understood his friends who said spending time with their sibling was a drain, or boring, because he loved spending time with his sister even if sometimes he wanted to spend time with his friends who actually shared the same passion as him, too. Claudia was fun; more fun than a lot of his friends actually. 

And... he couldn't be sure how long this would last. If she found her Soulmate, he would have to share her, then someday give her away, and there would be no time for just them anymore. He could only dread for that day to come. 

Claudia bit her lip to fight off a grin. “Better than gaming?” she asked, really not expecting a good answer but just wanting to ask. So it surprised her when he said, “Yeah, well, I guess.”

Soren didn't know why it's so hard to just be honest and say he loved spending time with her, too. But he guessed it was something he'd never be able to say to her face or he'd get teased for it for the rest of his life.

“Aawww, Sor-bear!” She threw herself onto him and wrapped her arms around him, making him tumble backward slightly. “I like this better than my books, too!”

Soren playfully rolled his eyes. “Psh, yeah, right.”

“I’m not lying!”

“Sure you aren’t.” He ruffled her hair before going ahead.

He could hear her footsteps as she scrambled to follow him like she did earlier this evening when he stormed out of the house. It never failed to make his heart flutter when she did that. It never failed to make him feel needed. 

“Where are you going?” she asked once she popped up by his side, cocking her head.

“It’s late," he said, then smiled at her. "Let’s head home.”

Claudia smiled back so widely her cheeks must hurt. “Okay!”

Their next date night was two weeks after that. Then a week after that. And then, it was a tradition.

**Author's Note:**

> A friend that prefers to stay anonymous helped me a lot with the first part of this story so I just wanna thank her for that despite not being able to give her real credits <3
> 
> Oh and, Happy Valentine's Day :3


End file.
